Poison Ivy
by SwiggitySwooty
Summary: Set in the New Generation, a timid and orphaned muggle-born wizard plus a strictly acquaintance are accepted into the illustrious school of Hogwarts. Among the practitioners of magic, and with the help of certain canonical children, she will flourish and find her voice. Pairings eventually, but are yet to be determined.
1. Chapter 1

Poison Ivy

She gaped into the mirror, who's only response was to glare back at her with her own perplexing gaze. Be that it may be her own reflection; she admitted it felt somewhat offensive in a way, and suddenly the matching faces soured at one another.

"What's wrong with you?" the girl asked into her mirror, her expression softening once more. Her voice held no malice; rather it was an adequately curious tone. It was as if she were asking it an honest question, but… she would have, in all honesty, been surprised if it had responded. She didn't believe it would, she just made a habit of talking amongst her own person. There were the other girls or boys to talk to, of course, but they (who were sociable enough) were usually out and about with friends they'd made at the school nearby or they were working jobs. The younger kids, such as she, were much more timid. Typically, that is.

There was Blaine. He made a point of getting to know everyone, and making anyone he could into a close friend; he had so many however, she wondered how he had time for them all. That, and he couldn't have been even a day older than her, and she didn't even consider herself very aged at all. How could someone so young, and with all that he'd… all that _they'd_ collectively gone through… how was he still such an extrovert? Usually only the kids who talked were the older kids, and even then they were reserved. This kid was as loud and obnoxious as a banshee, but everybody loved the little devil… Including her, curse it all.

She didn't think she _like _liked him though; in a way she sort of envied him. He was funny, and he was nice… it was no wonder how he always made such wonderful impressions on others; the other boys, the girls… the adults who came in to see them every now and again. He'd already been fostered once, and for a damn long time too. They were good folks, but when the two lost their careers all hope of adopting the boy went down the drain. For his own sake, they'd said, and he'd seemed to appreciate the thought but the girl could tell he'd been deeply saddened by it. He didn't talk to anyone for a few days after. Word is, he's going back to them though, so good on him, she supposed.

Why couldn't she be more like Blaine? Outgoing, fun… talkative, the whole shebang. She could barely remember a time she didn't live at this orphanage, but no one seemed interested in taking her… but she wouldn't deny she didn't know why. She was incredibly shy, and even a little bitter. She could be cruel, even if she had no intention of doing so, and especially so if she did. She never means for her attitude to be so drastic, but she often found she couldn't help her world views for the life of her.

She imagined a good portion of the other children shared these mentioned views of hers however, so at least she wasn't alone in this. She assumed, anyways. Maybe they would have all been better off not having been born…

She began studying her reflection, a manner of drawing herself away from her troubling thoughts. She'd been laid back in her bed, said mirror being only a tiny handheld she was currently hand-helding high into the air, the copy of herself staring back down on her with calculating and thoughtful forest green eyes. Her skin was a near blemish free shade of olive, save for a scar spanning from the outer edge of a left eyebrow, and delving the rest of it's shape behind her long eyelashes. Whatever ebony bangs had been spared from her single braid was now crowning around the contour of her face on the bed, reminiscing a dark halo.

'At least I'm pretty,' she thought to herself before she huffed in a silent laugh. She usually did have modesty about herself, but in the subject of humor this principle flew out the window. Despite being a bitter child, she did have a weak spot for things that could make her laugh; false arrogance was one of these things…

WHACK!

"What?" The girl looked up from her spot on the bed, an expression of utter confusion crossing her visage as she stood up on said cot (oh boy, the headmistress would kill her if she saw this 'abhorring level of disrespect' to the so cheap furniture,) to investigate. A window hung just over on the wall beside where she had been lying just moments ago, yet still low enough as so she could… somewhat, peer out. She could have sworn something had slammed into it, but looking out from here she couldn't tell. She pushed open the window and stood on tip-toes to see as far out of it as possible, but no matter what she did she was inhibited from seeing the ground. Curse her being on the third floor! And for being short!

She was about ready to bound her way from the bed and all the way down the stairs and out through the front to see if the strange thing had landed in front of the building. Before she'd managed however, whatever had tried to crash head-first into her window once already came barreling back at what seemed even greater speed than previously, and the girl was compelled to scream as a flash of tan came right for her head. She tripped back off of her bed, landing her sit-upon onto the ground quite unceremoniously, accompanied with a disgraceful 'WHUMP'.

She exclaimed, partly from some obvious pain from falling off her bed, but more so from surprise than anything. After the initial shock of what had just happened wore off, she'd cast a quick glare back to the window. Sitting in the place of where her face had been just mere seconds ago, instead sat a sleek, tan barn owl, whose dark eyes stared beams into her. She stared back at the creature for a second or two, pondering over why it had simply stopped at the window sill. It had made no earlier intention known of stopping there, had it only then seen her and was just as confused as she?

Then she took note of the letter it held neatly in it's beak. Her eyes drew back up to meet the birds to which it responded with a couple bobs of the head as if motioning it was indeed _hers_, and she stared only for a few seconds more. It somewhat made sense now; it had a letter it was trying to deliver to her. It didn't, however, make much more sense as it only raised more questions than there had previously been… such as; who was writing her? And WHY send said letter by owl? Haven't they heard of a mailbox?

She left her less-comfortable-than-it-surely-was-on-the-bed spot on the floor, pushing herself back onto her bare feet. It'd been the end of a day when she'd retired back to her room, and she'd just gotten into her pajamas before she decided to have a quandary with herself over her personality and overall existence. She made her way over, climbing back onto the bed, and gingerly taking the note from mentioned owl who took off as soon as she'd had it.

'Obviously, he has other places to be…' she mused to herself, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She looked over the letter for a second. It was actually two letters by the look of it, the first was simply a folded piece of paper while the second, pasted to the back of the other, was the standard envelope/letter set up she'd been accustomed to. The paper on the top had a sort of crest; a shield, and plastered on it were a lion, a snake, a badger, and some kind of bird; she assumed an eagle. She unfolded the paper, deeming it the more important of the two here, from it's formal appearance. Taking a quick glance over the contents, unknowingly reading the words aloud to herself as per usual (much to everyone's chagrin, because she had made a point of reading quite often), she found herself with even more confusion.

_Hogwarts School_

_Of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Dear Ms. Ivy Bell,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We will await your response no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_-Headmistress_

Ivy could only bring herself to stare at the letter. The name was right—the address too. No way could it have been a mistake that the owl had gone to _her_, and not someone else by her same name. Maybe it was a joke? The question was though, who would put so much effort into such a joke. Who had time to train an owl to send such a letter to her; a girl who barely spoke to anyone as it stood, as some kind of prank… unless it wasn't one?... But… how could that—

"You got one too!" A boisterous voice, whose tone harbored a hint of a Celtic accent sounded from behind her as well as the sound of a door closing as the intruder stepped in. There was only one fiery redhead whom that rollicking screech could have belonged to.

"Blaine?" She said turning, her green eyes meeting a brown that for the life of her she could not figure out how they so outshined her own in their neutral color.

"You mean this?" She waved the letter a bit in the air, and he nodded eagerly, a wide grin plastered across his face. If it went any wider, Ivy was sure his skin would crack.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" He said, bounding excitedly in place, clapping his hands together in the most animated expression she would have ever seen if she hadn't met the boy before now. "I knew you were like me! Took you a while, it did, but you finally got your letter! Just in time too!"

"What do you mean?" She asked incredulously. There was no way this was real. This was a trick, this was some kind of cruel trick and Blaine was in on it. Whoever was using him as their scapegoat was going to pay dearly, for surely the boy wasn't so mean as to conduct the deception on his own.

"Weeell, usually you get your letter when you're eleven – like me! But some people only get in once they're twelve, like you. I've already been in for my first year; you still have yet to do that, haven't you?" He'd responded easily, but much more quiet about it now, like some kind of secret. If it was true, she could imagine why, but it likely wasn't.

She shook her head at him, "No, Blaine, I mean what do you mean 'like you'?" and suddenly his mouth formed into an understanding O, before he stepped closer to whisper under his breath in her ear.

"We're wizards! Wizards go to Hogwarts to learn about magic. Simple is as simple does, Ivy," he stepped back once more, now that the secretive part had been admitted. "Didn't you read your letter?"

"You probably already know, you guttersnipe, how else would you know I got the letter?" She scoffed, being somewhat more aware about her reading habits then apparently the others had been aware.

"Okay, one—I have a home, so you can't call me that, and TWO—I heard the owl. Yeah, it did that to me too last year, the clumsy oaf." While she was slightly surprised the boy had even known what she meant by the term 'guttersnipe', she was more surprised at herself for not remembering he did have a room on the floor above hers. It wasn't as if she would be the only one who heard it, or at least the nearby children would have. The thought had barely even occurred to her.

"OOooo, I hope you'll be a Gryffindor like me!" His smile turned into an open-mouthed grin as his eyes rolled up to the ceiling, caught in a daydream. They'd have so much fun! He couldn't wait for her to meet all of his friends, he couldn't wait for her to see all of it! He'd known the girl was different even before his first year, but everything had made sense afterwards. Those who made her angry usually found a way to equal misfortune; Ivy always simply chalked it up to Karma, but after Blaine's first year he knew better.

He also knew that when she dark haired girl said nothing in response, and gave him a quirked brow that he'd confused her. "Eh heh, it'll make sense later… I can explain it on the way." He held out his hand, "give me your note." He said simply.

She reluctantly lent over said article, and he began tearing into the envelope; He found the list of supplies within it's contents and skimmed over it; Ivy went to stand beside him as he did, looking over his shoulder. She found Blaine mumbled to himself when he read, and was comforted to know she wasn't the only one who was more auditory than others.

"mmmhrmrhmrobes..mhmrmrrmhwand… no brooms… Same things as last year… No problem, I know where to find all these things!" He concluded easily, with eyes shut and nodding thoughtfully at his own knowledge of such things.

"What?" She looked dumbfounded. "Where are we supposed to get all these things? It's not like there's a wizard shop handy nearby. A wand? dragon-skin gloves?"

"That!" he pointed an index finger into her face, thoroughly disrupting her personal bubble, "is incorrect! Well, 'nearby' not so incorrect, but there are definitely wizard shops, Ivy, a vast lot of 'em too! My 'foster family' will be here by tomorrow, and guess what:" He gave her no time to guess just what it was, he was far too excited for such trivial things as that "You're coming with us!"

"Wait, you mean…?"

"Uh-huh! We've got it aaaall planned out! I knew you were like me so I asked them to go through with the fostering, and they did. Worst case scenario, you wouldn't get a letter and you'd have to stay there for a school year. They're good folks though, so I didn't think you would have minded." She couldn't believe it! He really was a little devil! She almost laughed at his cleverness; she hadn't expected it of him. Not a foster family at all, he'd gone to go to Hogwarts, and now he'd arranged for her too as well!

Well, well, well, this was certainly the most unexpected thing she could have imagined as of late, but not in the least an unappealing situation. She was actually excited.

"So…? What do you think?" He asked, sounding a bit apprehensive. As much as he knew Ivy was a wizard such as he, he knew she wasn't nearly as sociable or spontaneous. She may want to decline, even.

"What do I think? What do I _think?_ I think you're a genius, Blaine! I can't wait to go!" And for the first time he'd remembered seeing, the girl smiled. It almost matched the redhead's own smile width, and she would probably get very sore cheeks if it stayed like that much longer; she didn't seem accustomed to it, after all.

And then she did something he would have never expected; she threw her arms around him in an excited embrace. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Huh! He didn't think she had it in her to put herself in another person's personal space – she never liked _hers_ invaded… he guessed this w_as_ a special occasion after all, and hugged her back. It was quite a favor after all. How else, however, would she have managed to get there? He knows he wouldn't have been able to if not for his 'foster parents.'

"You're welcome."

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Woo! First chapter of my second fanfiction ever! Hope you guys liked it, because there's more on the way whether you did or not! :D


	2. Foster Family

"They should be around any time now." The fiery redhead announced as he began packing more articles into a suitcase to Ivy, who exhaled an apprehensive puff of air. She had so many thoughts swirling throughout her mind, and unfortunately not all of them positive. Blaine hadn't been able to explain everything to her, as they were still on human grounds and the chances of someone overhearing were too great to elaborate into it. With the basest of explanations, as they had already talked through earlier upon receiving her letter of acceptance, they could have disregarded any talk as that of a story they were creating, but any more so and they would become suspicious.

This left Ivy still very much in the dark of what was to happen, but Blaine refused to answer any more of her questions, even when she was sure they were on their own. For example, what was a Gryffindor? It sounded more akin to a mythological figure than anything, but she heavily doubted the possibility that the boy was indeed a great winged mix between bird and lion, and inwardly laughed at the image her mind provided of this.

But what if they didn't like her? Who, exactly she thought may not like her was unspecific; the students, the teachers, the family the boy was having take them to the school… all of it was so disconcerting… but Blaine had cared enough to orchestrate, or at least have a hand in doing so, this whole thing. He wanted her there, and she hadn't even had known he was being so involved until the day before she were to leave with him… which also nearly made her head spin in a way. She was going to be fostered and no one had thought to tell her… oh well, it is what it is. Maybe they'd assumed he told her?

They were in his room now; Blaine had already helped her pack her things and now she was helping with his own, and all they had left to do was finish with a defiant zipper on an overly stuffed suitcase. They really should have done this yesterday…

"I got it." He climbed up onto the cot and sat himself on the suitcase, effectively weighting it down so Ivy could zip it shut. He let out a triumphant guffaw once she'd done so, and bounced from his spot back onto the floor, grabbing it's handle and dragging it down as well. They had to get their things moved to the front (as Ivy had already done); lest it would take forever to get everything loaded. It was a drill that the orphanage children were familiar with, and they would always be glad to go… but packing was never a revered part of the process.

She had to admit, the boy was quite a packhorse. Not only did he manage to carry everything down on his own, because according to him: "second trips are for sissies," he'd done quite a speedy job of it too. She'd offered to help him, but in the end he denied the assistance and carried on down the stairwell. She wondered how he didn't tip over being so top heavy, and partly wondered if it was magic… or maybe he really was that hardy. He was a Scot after all; she thought it could make sense.

They only had to wait for a few minutes once they'd sat themselves at the front door, Blaine sitting himself on his suitcase while Ivy rested against a wall. The other boys and girls had already come to say their goodbyes for now, and how they wished them luck that maybe this family was theirs… so they were generally left to themselves for the moment, and Ivy could only think of what was to come and she found herself both frightened and excited. Then they heard a car door from outside the building, and she felt nothing but her heart jumping up into her throat, plus a sudden near overwhelming nervousness.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Weasley!" The redhead acknowledged as a couple stepped through the doors, with who were obviously their children tagging shortly behind. They waved eagerly at Blaine who flailed a hand to and fro back at them, bearing a not uncharacteristic grin as he did so. He sped over to Ivy's side, whole-heartedly prepared to introduce her whether she liked it or not.

"This is Ivy, the one I've been telling you about." He clapped a hand onto her shoulder, and she bowed her head slightly, acknowledging the two adults after giving the whole family a once over. Well, it would have almost looked like Blaine was a definite part of it if not for the a lack of freckles. Not to mention his hair color was absolutely saturated red… it looked more like a crayon color than it did anything potentially natural, and she would have guessed it dyed if not for the fact it was like that when he came here two years ago. The orphanage didn't allow dyes, as they were too potentially messy… plus the place was terribly conservative.

"It's very nice to meet you," was all she could say, and did so with the learned politeness and respect most of the other children seemed to demonstrate towards the adults who stopped by. It was what you had to do if you wanted to be adopted; no questions asked. No one wanted to adopt an unruly and mean child, so it'd become like a second nature to treat your elders with all kindness.

"It's nice to meet you too, we've heard wonderful things." The woman began in what was quite obviously, an English accent. She had dark brown eyes and a kind face, that admittedly did remind her a great deal of the fiery haired boy. Her locks, which she had pulled back into a tight ponytail, were a light auburn to accompany her light skin. She bore a small smile as she continued on. "I'm Hermione. This," she interlocked arms with the red-haired man standing next to her, "is my husband Ron, you can call us what you'd like though. These are our children, Rose and Hugo."

The two smiled at her, and Ivy responded with a quick wave of a hand to acknowledge them both. The girl looked about her age, but the boy seemed just a bit younger. The one trait she did indeed note, though, was that they shared a spitting image of one of the parents each; the girl resembled her mother, and the boy heavily resembled Mr. Weasley. She supposed this was only natural for parents and their children, but she hadn't particularly had a lot of experience on the topic. They just looked so much alike, though. The woman spoke once more,

"Are you both all set to be off?" Blaine nodded enthusiastically and bounded over to his luggage. He began loading himself up with, of course, the help of not another person; the Weaselys seemed unconcerned by this, however, and the dark-haired girl concluded it to being they'd seen the display before. He had, after all, always been independent. Talkative, sure, but still very independent.

On another topic, Mrs. Weasley turned her attention back to her husband, "Will you help Ivy with her things? I'll go check them out." He nodded, and off he went, hauling the greater of the bags up onto a shoulder. The two children deigned to follow their mother to the headmistress' office, lest they get recruited in helping out with carrying as well. She left her spot to go retrieve her suitcase, which Ron had not gathered himself since it had wheels.

Carting out the case, she walked alongside the man over to a waiting car which Blaine had already climbed into and was pressing various faces into the glass at her. She cocked a single brow at the daft display, laughing under her breath. He probably thought it was terribly clever. Meanwhile, Ron was finding it difficult not to talk to the young girl about the school of which she probably knew nothing about. Blaine hadn't been orphaned until recently, he'd come to learn but the boy had learned that Ivy had spent a great deal of her childhood there, if not all of it and he couldn't help but feel an empathy for the girl, being a family man himself.

"I'll get that for you." He'd said, motioning to her suitcase after already depositing everything else into the trunk with the other boy's. He honestly would have been surprised if she could have lifted it into the trunk herself; she was a bit skinny. Not overly so, but she definitely didn't have much of a muscle mass.

"Oh," she backed away awkwardly when he'd offered. She wasn't used to adults doing things for her; she was mostly independent right along with Blaine, despite both of their young ages. "Thank you." She concluded, before scampering off back towards the car doors, hauling herself in and seeing mentioned boy patting the seat next to him. She eagerly settled in where he'd offered; she may not know him relatively well, but he was at least a friendly acquaintance… not that she doubted the Weasleys children weren't, but familiar faces were typically easier to converse with than not.

Just a bit more waiting, and after Mr. Weasley pulled the car around to the front, the woman and her two children exited the building once more making their way to the car and getting in themselves. Rose had sat next to Ivy, inadvertently placing her brother on his own in the absolute back, much to his chagrin. He tried to hide a pout once he'd realized this, but he'd accepted it anyhow and settled into his own spot. 'At least I'll get into Hogwarts next year.' He thought sourly to himself.

"Is it true you got your letter just yesterday?" The girl probed at Ivy, and when she thought about it, it had been by incredible luck that she had…

"Yeah, crazy isn't it? Just in time." What would have happened if she didn't receive her letter? How would the Weasleys have been able to hide everything Hogwarts from her? Rose and Blaine would have simply and inexplicably left for the school year while she and Hugo remained. She could picture her own confusion at such a thing, and wondered just a bit if they'd actually prepared for her not being a wizard.


End file.
